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Coldplay, Muse and Devon

Rowena Squires for the Liberal Democrats came third on 575 votes, with Lizzie Woodman for the Green Party getting 563 votes and Frankie Rufolo of the For Britain Movement getting 70. Turnout was 31 per cent.

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The result means that Labour once again are the official opposition on the County Council, with seven councillors, although the 60 strong authority is dominated by the 42 Conservative members.

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Speaking after his win, Cllr Sheldon said it was a relief to have held the seat. He said: “It is closer than I would have liked but a win is a win. Part of it been is that I have been a councillor for Heavitree since 2011. I have lived in the area almost all my life so I am known in the area so that does help. I had a job in town and there is at least one person who has voted for me who isn’t a natural Labour supporter who said that they would vote for me because they know I am a good man.

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“What I do for the Labour group on the city council is crunch numbers. I am a sad anorak, I know, but I crunch the numbers. In the current climate, financial balance is critical for any council and I will be putting a lot of effort into that. But as people raise issues with me, I will be dealing with them, and as you can imagine, quite a few have come in over the last month or so, so I will quite busy for some time to come.”

Asked why he thought the vote share was down he said: “It is so difficult to say. It’s a 31 per cent turnout, not a 42 per cent. People will always say down to national trends, but I have been involved in by-elections before, not as a candidate, but weird things happen. I don’t think you can put it down to a single issue, but we will try and talk to people to find out why they didn’t vote for us over the coming months and what made them make that decision.”

Cllr Greg Sheldon (Image: Daniel Clark)

Cllr Sheldon has lived in the Heavitree and Whipton area since he was eleven. He has now retired from a career in banking for a well-known national company.

He has been a member of the city council since 1996, and in 2011 was elected as Labours first City Councillor for Heavitree since the 1930s.

On the city council, he chairs the Corporate Services Committee, and serves on the Audit and Governance Committee

Devon Community Insight Survey

Devon residents are being asked what matters most in a survey run by Devon County Council.

The Community Insight Survey asks about experiences of a range of services and the County Council’s strategic aims.

It also asks questions about Council Tax increases, community resources, if people have good access to green spaces, and if the council’s decision make sense.

A council spokesman said: “We are committed to building a Devon where everyone can live their lives well, and to do this we need to understand what matters most to you and where you experience difficulties. The results will be shared across services and used to inform budget decisions and how services are provided in future.”

Commenting on the result of the County Council by-election in the Heavitree and Whipton division of Exeter, Green Party candidate, Lizzie Woodman, said: "This was a terrible night for Labour but a positive result for Greens. Labour lost almost 20% on their 2017 County Council election result, only narrowly beating the Conservatives. But the Tory vote didn’t increase, while Greens powered on almost tripling the percentage of the vote we received in 2017. This shows support for Labour in Exeter is crumbling while Greens are on the up.

“Watching the votes being counted on the night, we could see that Greens are topping the poll in the Heavitree ward part of the division. I thank all those who voted Green Party at this election; those who want new voices and fresh thinking on our councils. I know Greens can win a future council election here.”